When war came to America in December 1941, Roger Powell was only 15 years old. He would not turn 18 until June 1944. Until then, he would continue his high school education. The fourth son of the family, Roger was perhaps the most athletic of the bunch. In the fall of 1943, he starred on the football team at William Hall High School in West Hartford…. On February 25, 1944, 17-year-old Roger Powell enlisted in the Army Air Corps as an air cadet for pilot training. Still attending high school, Roger and other cadets received training in assembling and disassembling a Pratt & Whitney radial engine. On November 27, 1944, Roger entered the Army Air Corps at New Haven, Connecticut and was sent to Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts. There were now four stars in the window.